Which team would I play for?

The World Baseball Classic is like the World Cup to soccer. I absolutely love the competition and the patriotism in this tournament.

The last time the WBC was played was in 2006, when Alex Rodriguez was involved in a controversy as to which team to play for: the Domincan Republic or the US? I absolutely disagree with Ozzie Guillen's quote in the article... that guy isn't in touch with life as a XXXXX-American.

Since then I've wondered which team I would be asked to play for if I were a baseball player, and which team I'd pick. So I looked up eligibility:

Q: Who is eligible to play in the World Baseball Classic?
A: A player is eligible to participate on a World Baseball Classic team if:

• The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents. (Additionally, if a player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport, then the player may be made eligible by WBCI upon petition by the player or team.)
• The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player has one parent who is, or if deceased was, a citizen of the nation the team represents.
• The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.

Note: In the event a player appropriately appears on more than one provisional roster, he may select the team for which he wishes to play.

So with this, that means that I would be eligible to play for the US obviously, and also I would be eligible to play for China because my parents were born in China. But I wouldn't be eligible to play for Chinese Taipei (the laughable politically correct name for "Taiwan"... can you imagine being called "American Washington DC"?) even though my parents grew up there... unless of course they have dual citizenship, which I don't think they have but I don't know.

So assuming I had a choice, who would I play for? Who would YOU play for?

Chinese speaking white guys

Pardon those of you who read my blog on Wisconsin sports, but this story crosses over into the Asian world... the Milwaukee Bucks' first round draft pick last year was a guy named Joe Alexander. He grew up in China and was born in Taiwan, and speaks fluent Mandarin. Click here to see the 30 second interview.

For the non-Chinese speaking people, near the end of the interview the reporter asks him in Chinese (a question that inevitably always comes up when Chinese people talk to Americans) what his favorite Chinese food is. He says, "Kung-pao chicken." Then later adds, "All Americans like Kung-pao chicken." Really funny stuff coming from a white guy!

Chthonic- Taiwanese Death Metal Band

This morning I got this email from the Cincinnati Taiwanese Association

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Freddy Lim, lead singer of "ChthoniC" and head of "Guts United, Taiwan" will be in Indianapolis, Indiana very soon to deliver an imporant speech to the Taiwanese American community of the Midwest.

I was kind of curious about Chthonic so I visited their website and their entry on Wikipedia.
It turns out they're a Taiwanese death metal band that has performed at Ozzyfest.
From Wikipedia.org:

While some songs have their lyrics partly or entirely written in Taiwanese, Japanese, or Taiwanese aboriginal language, most of the band's songs have their lyrics written entirely in classical Chinese (with Mandarin pronunciation), which is rarely seen in contemporary Chinese music. Taking advantage of classical Chinese's feature of being a monosyllabic language, many songs, especially those in earlier albums, used plenty of parallel sentences in their lyrics to create an epic atmosphere.

The themes mostly surround early Taiwanese colonizers' defiant spirit, fictional war between aborigine's gods with Han's gods, Taiwanese folklore and mythology, and the historical event known as Wushe Incident, which is a rebellion against Japanese governor by Seediq people.

Although the lyrics are quite profound compared to most contemporary Taiwanese songs, many Taiwanese people don't prefer black metal vocals and said that they couldn't understand anything sung by Freddy, which is probably why Chthonic is said to be more famous in western countries than in Taiwan.

Ok, a Taiwanese death metal band that's popular in the West. That "sings" their songs in Taiwanese. That's a little unusual. However, things are not always they appear on the surface.

Freddy Lim, the vocalist is a highly respected political activist. Especially with the Taiwanese and Tibetan Independence movements.

Here's a picture of Freddy Lim's recent visit with the Dalai Lama.And a video of the same event.



If I had a child who started listening/singing death metal music, I think I would be in a panic and questioning my skills as a parent. Instead, the band members are meeting the Dalai Lama and are positive role models for the next generation of Taiwanese! I was talking to my father about Freddy Lim and he knew all about him and proceeded to go on and on about his courage, spirit, and his ability to mobilize the youth of Taiwan. My father is not alone in his admiration. When Chthonic travels in the United States, many older Taiwanese go to their concerts to support them and to bring them home cooked Taiwanese meals.

If you're curious you can hear their music while looking at their pictures on Chthonic's gallery.

Oh, the bass player of the band is slightly attractive.